After 3 days off, Bulls struggle to find their groove
Mismatch behind the arc, inconsistent play lead to blowout loss vs. Nuggets
The Chicago Bulls dropped a second straight game Sunday night with a 126-103 blowout at the hands of the Denver Nuggets. They are now 6-8 on the season and fell to 11th in the Eastern Conference.
Here are five takeaways from the loss.
1 . The Bulls were rusty after three days off.
After four back-to-backs in the opening three weeks, the Bulls were grateful to catch their breath with a three-day break from games. But they showed signs of rust early Sunday, digging themselves into yet another quick deficit by getting outscored 32-20 in the first quarter.
The Bulls turned the ball over six times in the first quarter, providing free ammunition to the hot-handed Nuggets, who shot 60% from the field. The starting unit fell flat in the face of the early Denver pace, forcing the Bulls reserves to once again attempt a comeback.
“I believe energy is a choice,” coach Billy Donovan said. “You can’t play off of feelings because feelings come and go. You’ve got to eliminate feelings and choose to do things. We have a choice with what kind of energy to play with, and circumstances cannot impact or affect our energy. We’ve got to choose energy because that’s all it is. It’s a choice.”
2 . Nikola Joki picked apart the Bulls defense with dazzling passes, but Michael Porter Jr. led the Nuggets in scoring.
The two-time NBA MVP didn’t need to score much to control the game for the Nuggets. Jokić commanded the court with his passing, logging 14 assists in just under 28 minutes before sitting most of the fourth quarter. He tallied 12 assists in only 18 minutes in the first half and was 4 of 4 from the field for eight points.
With Jokić taking a facilitating role, Porter led the Nuggets with 31 points, finishing 6 of 9 on 3-pointers. He scored 16 points in the third quarter to cement the win.
3 . The Bulls’ lack of 3 -point shooting created a mismatch behind the arc.
The 3-point line has been a weak point for the Bulls on both sides of the court — and that trend continued.
The Nuggets shot 13-for-27 (48%) from behind the arc, while the Bulls were 6 of 22 (27%). The disparity was highlighted in the first half, when the Bulls made only two 3-pointers on 17% shooting.
The Bulls can’t keep pace with opponents if they continue to struggle to defend the 3-point line and make shots from behind it.
The Nuggets are an incredibly efficient 3-point shooting team
— first in the league in accuracy (42.3%) and ninth in 3-pointers per game (13.2) — but that doesn’t excuse the Bulls’ continued pattern of giving up long-distance shots. They’re allowing the fourth-highest 3-point accuracy in the league (36.9%).
4 . The Bulls second unit continues to make comeback efforts.
The starting five simply didn’t do enough in the loss. Individually, it was a lackluster night for all five starters. Zach LaVine (21 points) and DeMar DeRozan (16 points) finished with decent stat lines but couldn’t produce the type of heroics necessary to balance scoring. Ayo Dosunmu missed four 3-pointers and finished 3-for-9 from the field, while Nikola Vučević struggled defensively against Jokić and others.
Once again, the Bulls found themselves looking to the bench to forge a comeback — and the group put up a pair of decent efforts, cutting the lead to six points in the second quarter and to 11 points from 18 with a 7-0 run in the third.
Andre Drummond finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, and Goran Dragić added 11 points.
5 . Patrick Williams flexed his physicality but faded in the second half.
Williams continues to show flashes of improvement as the third-year power forward grows into his role as a key starter. The first half showcased the impact Williams can make as he scored eight points on 3-for-4 shooting with four rebounds, a block and a steal.
In the first quarter, Williams snatched an offensive rebound over Porter and then dropped his shoulder into the larger player, muscling through his opponent for a put-back. The play showed what can happen when Williams attacks the rim with physicality.
But that aggression wore off in the third quarter as Williams went scoreless before adding seven points in garbage time to finish with 15 without adding another rebound.